Antibacterial soaps should be washed out.

• Position: Risk of chemicals triclosan and triclocarban in antibacterial soaps - Your Life

The Natural Resources Defense Council has filed a lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration for failing to issue a final rule regarding the chemicals triclosan and triclocarban, which commonly are found in antibacterial soaps. These chemicals are suspected endocrine disruptors linked to reproductive and developmental harm in laboratory studies.

"Washing your hands with so-called antibacterial soap containing triclosan or triclocarban actually does nothing different than using regular soap and water," asserts Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist in the Health and Environment program at NRDC. "Using soap containing these chemicals does not provide an additional benefit, as consumers might think, but instead actually comes with potential health risks. The FDA should prohibit these harmful chemicals from being put into products in the fin place."

The majority of consumer soaps claiming to be "antibacterial" or "antimicrobial" contain the chemicals triclosan or triclocarban. The FDA first proposed a rule that would have removed these chemicals from soaps in 1978. Until this rule is finalized, these chemicals can be used widely with no regulatory oversight. The growing use of these chemicals in products has led to widespread residues in the environment and in people; biomonitoring results found residues of triclosan in 75% of Americans over the age of six. The chemicals are absorbed...